U.S. Announces Preliminary Tariff Hike on Solar Imports from Southeast Asia
The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) recently unveiled preliminary anti-subsidy countervailing duties on solar imports from four Southeast Asian countries – Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand. These duties followed a formal trade complaint by the American Alliance for Solar Manufacturing Trade Committee, which accused Chinese-based companies operating in Southeast Asia of violating anti-dumping regulations, undercutting U.S. solar manufacturers at home and abroad. The subsidies rates determined by the DOC for Cambodia (8.25%), Malaysia (9.13%), Thailand (23.06%), and Vietnam (2.85%) were still lower than expected. Comparatively, manufacturers from other regional partners such as South Korea face subsidy rates upwards of 15% for products made in Malaysia. Despite the lower-than-expected subsidy rates for ASEAN countries, companies in Vietnam and Thailand will still face duties retroactively for 90 days because the DOC found a surge in shipments to the U.S. to bypass potential duties.